Please give a warm welcome to Sally Franklin Christie, author of Milk Carton People The Journey.
I am a plotter eleven months out of the year. In November I am a pantser. Throughout the year I wish I could bottle and sell ‘butt glue for writers.’
I’ll tell you a bit about my approach to plotting.
I have a very tattered book that I bring out at the start of my project. I don’t know if writers can buy it anywhere these days.
I have character sheets, scene sheets, lists, notebooks, white boards, posters and pens.
I need to have a really firm idea of what is happening in the novel. I have to know what drives a character to madness or bliss. I have to know at least one thing these characters would never ever consider doing.
I make a plotline on poster paper where I mark an inclining line with plot points, turning points and this includes at least six key scenes. I put this poster in the bathroom where I see it several times each day.
I keep notebooks, stray forms, files, character studies, back stories in a clutter cluster I call my ‘Big Bird Nest.’ I use my computer, I think all of my pens and paper files and notebooks make me look a bit tech phobic but I have used a computer since 1982 when I had a Commodore Vic 20. I love my computer. My printer, that is a bit of a different story.
I like to go to fakenamegenerator.com when I am stuck for a character. I eaves drop and gawk at people in parking lots. I have been known to make up back stories for badly or creatively dressed strangers with cart loads of whatever the store is selling.
I also love the invention of whiteboards.
Once my characters are done to my satisfaction I go ahead and write six key scenes. When these are done I write the ‘bridges’ between them.
Now, let me tell you about November.
I change rooms, set up the laptop, sit in my yellow chair so my feet touch the ground and tap out at least 1667 words a day.
Just before I go down for NaNoWriMo I make sure I have my Lightbox ready, loads of glutin-free snacks, coffee and a hat that says “Not Now – I’m NaNo-ing.” I also have a copy of No Plot – No Problem in the room with me. It is not quite as tattered as my other book.
The butt glue is still applied but the planner, internal editor, researcher, sometimes even the spellchecker is sent to a far away kennel and is not even allowed a phone call till I get to the end.
My first published novel, If I Should Die, was a NaNo project. My second published novel, Milk Carton People was a Plotted project.
I really don’t know if I have any quirky writing rituals but I am sure my family may disagree. I am addicted to sticky notes and ink pens. I have notebooks everywhere and if my computer begins to act out I start saving up for a new one. Did I mention the ink pens?
Thank you for having me as a guest on your site.
Thank you Sally for joining us today.
Title: Milk Carton People: The Journey
Author: Sally Franklin Christie
Genre: Suspense, Thriller
Publisher: Eternal Press
Paperback/Ebook
Pages: 132
Purchase:
Eternal Press | Amazon Kindle | Amazon Paperback | Are | GoHastings | BooksOnBoard | Coffee Time Romance |Barnes and Noble Paperback| Barnes and Noble Nook | iTunes/iBook | OmniLit | Wise |
Book Description:
Milk Carton People is a paranormal thriller about people who suddenly find themselves invisible, able to observe things but unable to participate. Do they go mad? Maybe they find others. It is quite possible that there is no point in being invisible.
This is a book that plays on the very thin line of sanity and pure despair. The characters act and react to the new challenges and the reader gets to go along for the ride.
Excerpt:
I’m going to wake up, now, and go about my day with my cup of coffee. By the time I get to work, the whole thing will disappear like all dreams. I won’t even remember it.
She turned away from the little tree and took a few steps down the sidewalk. She intended to turn back toward the book store again, to somehow retake control of her destiny. As if turning back would give everyone one more chance to tell her it was all in fun and she was such a good sport.
Just then, a woman in an electric blue colored coat, walked right into her.
“Excuse, me,” Ruth began and stopped speechless. For one long, drawn out, slow motion, nightmare second, her vision was obscured by a brownish red filter which blurred everything before her. She felt hot, sticky, and confined. A cloying odor of spoiled hamburger made her gasp for clean air. She tasted copper pennies in her mouth. At the same time Ruth heard a gurgling noise and a squeak and as the whole event suddenly ended she heard a plop like pudding falling from a spoon back into the bowl.
A sudden cold sweat competed with stomach acid lurching into her throat. Ruth swallowed it back and turned to watch as the woman in electric blue continued walking down the sidewalk without breaking stride. Ruth watched the woman in the electric blue coat disappear around the corner.
“No,” Ruth said aloud with authority. “No,” she repeated louder, hoping make it all go away. “This did not happen.”
She walked to the nearest building and stood close to the cold bricks in the shadows.
I have to go home.
About the Author:
Eternal Press Staff Member
Biography
Marketing Manager
Sally Franklin Christie has spent her life achieving incredibly average goals. Her challenges and choices have led to into the world of organizing for social change, civil rights and helping people navigate in a world filled with physical barriers and discrimination. She photographs and paints landscapes, when she isn’t at the computer researching, networking and writing. Special interests include Missing Children and Adults,
Astronomy, Character Traits and Criminal Thinking.
A home schooling mother of children born eleven years apart has added to her liberal arts education. She's had plenty of time to practice and refine the art and craft of writing coupled with opportunities to learn the marketing aspects of writing. She interned for a spell at WOW-Womenonwriting.com and currently has a position as a moderator at The Writers Chatroom. Various published articles appear in places like Pangia Magazine, Creations Magazine and other almost forgotton places. She writes one novel a year as a NaNoWriMo Participant and keeps a more serious project simmering year round.
Links to the Author:
Website | E-mail Address: sally@sallyfranklinchristie.com | Twitter: SallyChristie |Facebook
Book Trailer link:
3 comments:
Great post! I always love to hear other authors' writing habits. I still have not done NaNoWriMo yet but I'm trying to work it out so I can do it this year! ;)
Hey, Sally, what a great post. I had no idea you were such a planner and plotter. Except for Nano. My first e-book was the result of a Nano project and my book, Coda to Murder, to be released in Feb 2013 is also a product of Nano. However, I have never, ever made the 50000 word challenge. So even if you don't make it to the 50000 goal, you can still get a book out of the madness! Best wishes on your new release..
Thank you for having me here and thank you to the people who commented.
These were fun questions.
Got to Love NaNo.
Sally
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